Forgotten Elements

As soon as we landed in the new realm, all the strength fled my body as I slumped on Parker’s shoulder. He pulled me into his arms so I was cradled against his chest as he rubbed my back. “What’s wrong?”

I couldn’t see his expression, but I could hear the panic in his voice and felt it in the tight way he held me.

My head was too heavy to lift, so I let it rest against his chest as I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. Sweat coated my skin, and my hand shook as I pushed my hair from my face. “My body is struggling to leave the realm.” I wasn’t one hundred percent sure this was the case, but it felt right. When I entered the Land of plenty, it was like a shot of adrenaline, my body tingled with the pure magic of the realm. After being in the realm for weeks, it was a shock to my body to be without it.

No one had warned us about how shitty this felt, but then again, there was a lot they hadn’t told us.

Parker adjusted his hold on me to reach for his wristband, and as he attempted to make a call, I took stock of our surroundings. The land was desolate and barely alive, not helping with my magic withdrawals. The energy coming from the elements was almost nonexistent like someone had taken too much from it and didn’t give anything back in return.

It wasn’t like the wastelands, which was a void of magic and actively sucked at our energy, but it wasn’t doing much better.

The grass was yellow and not in the way some of the grass was in our realm. This grass was barely alive as the faint magic fled it and followed a ley line elsewhere. That wasn’t right. Many realms had some sort of ley lines that connected the energies of the land. In our realm, where those lines converged was where the permanent rifts were. But the ley lines never stole magic from the elements or realm.

The grass wasn’t the only element being robbed. In the distance, I could feel the brittle bark of the trees grow weaker as its magic was being stolen. Even the color of the sky seemed dull, just like in the creature’s realm.

In a strange turn of events, the traitor we followed here wasn’t anywhere in sight. It wasn’t surprising he wasn’t curled in a ball like me since he’d stolen a shit-ton of crystals, but in this flat terrain, we should’ve been able to see him.

My focus was pulled from the dying lands when Parker let out a frustrated sigh as he powered off his wristband. “I can’t reach anyone, not even those in our realm.” He let out another sigh as he took in the barren lands.

“It must be the ley lines—” I began, but I was cut off when a rumble ran through the ground. The ley lines weren’t acting up on their own; someone was pulling an excessive amount of magic from them and as a result, fucking with the balance of this realm.

Whipping winds soon followed, coming out of nowhere and nearly knocking us over. Parker’s magic flared up, and I was pretty sure it was the only thing keeping us standing. The weather was raging in reaction to the imbalance, trying to restore the equilibrium of the realm. But it was fighting a losing battle with the quick pace of the drain. If anything, the flaring weather gave them even more energy to drain, which in turn made the weather even more volatile.

It was a vicious cycle that would only lead to the complete destruction of the realm.

The torrent of wind was so unruly and unyielding that not even the most powerful of elementals could control or tame this. The best thing to do—the only thing we could do was get out of its way and wait it out—if that was even possible.

I could barely make out Parker’s words, but I was pretty sure he asked, “Is the killer the one doing this?”

I shook my head in answer to his question, not even attempting to try and be heard over this weather.

While draining magic seemed to be his thing, this wasn’t him. The magic pulling at the ley lines wasn’t the same as the thread of magic present at the bodies. Not only did the magic signature not match, but other than the thread of magic, the thing barely left a trace, unlike what was happening here. It was clunky and done by someone inexperienced. Clearly, it wasn’t the man we chased here since it would require time and preparation. But I couldn’t write off the other traitors.

Why had he come here? What did this have to do with everything?

“We need to get out of this realm. Now.”

I hadn’t been sure whether or not Parker would hear me, but I took him setting me on my feet as a good sign. He kept one arm wrapped around my waist, holding me tightly against his side so I wouldn’t be blown away.

My braid smacked me in the face over and over, but I ignored it as I watched Parker make a few hand gestures, magic building in his palm. My skin tingled from the electricity skating over it from being so close to Parker while he used magic. I could almost feel the moment when he released the spell into the air.

The whipping winds, that were only growing stronger, didn’t affect the glowing crack that formed in the air in front of us. Before I could take a step toward it, Parker picked me up, once again holding me close to his chest, and stepped through the rift.

It wasn’t the smoothest rift I’d ever been through, but it wasn’t the worst. Not by a long shot. That honor belonged to the one leading to and from the creature’s realm. Just thinking about it had me shuddering. It made me never want to use it again—not that I had any desire to go back to that realm regardless.

Parker stumbled a couple of steps when we were tossed out of the rift, but he managed to get his footing.

I already knew before looking around, that we weren’t back in the Land of plenty. I would’ve recognized the pure, unfettered energy anywhere, and I wasn’t sensing it now, but at least we were no longer in that other realm.

We were in the middle of a forest with trees towering over us, even taller than the highest trees of the Earth Court. The leaves were dark burgundy and oval-shaped, and the trunks were thick. They were wide enough that if Parker and I both wrapped our arms around it from either side, our hands wouldn’t come close to touching.

While the magic of this realm wasn’t tapped out, it wasn’t thriving as it should’ve been. Someone was also stealing magic from these lands as well. If they kept this up, in a couple of days, these lands would be the same as the realm we just left: on the verge of an implosion.

“Fuck,” Parker said with a growl as he dropped his forehead against my neck.

“I’m guessing this wasn’t what you were aiming for.” I loosened my hold around his neck so I no longer had it in a death hold.

“Honestly? I just wanted to get out of the fucking realm. I didn’t care where we ended up.” He hesitated as he glanced around at the trees. “The realms must be connected in some way, though. I just can’t figure out what the connection is.”

“You mean other than the fact they’re being bled dry and have traces of elemental magic?”

It had been difficult to get a good look at the magical signature of the thief—or possible thieves—what with the realm imploding, but I swore I sensed Mythic energy. I didn’t yet know why or how, but somehow this was connected to what was happening in the Land of plenty.

Parker’s gaze returned to mine, and I could see the flecks of gold in his eyes and the various light shades of brown that made up his irises. Our faces were only a couple of inches apart, and it was like we just now realized how close we were now that we were no longer in crisis mode.

My lips tingled as his gaze dropped to them, remembering how soft his felt against mine when he teased me earlier.

I still felt off from being disconnected from the realm, but my focus was no longer on that or even on this confusing mess we found ourselves in. My entire body was buzzing with desire, and I could think of nothing else except how his lips would feel against mine.

Sorcerers didn’t have the strong sense of smell as summoners, but I knew he could smell my arousal.

“Fuck it,” he murmured a second before slamming his lips against mine in a hard kiss. I immediately responded, my lips furiously moving against his as my hands threaded through his hair, pulling him even closer.

This kiss had been a long time coming and as a result, was more frantic and aggressive than I’d ever experienced. His tongue twined with mine as he devoured my mouth with skill and precision that had me relaxing in his arms. He didn’t move his hands, still holding me cradled against his chest, and yet desire was pounding through my veins as if he were.

I’d always liked kissing, but to me, it was always a prelude to sex, but this was different. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted nothing more than for him to make good on his promises, but I could easily see myself kissing him for a long time and not getting bored or tired.

It was hard to say how long we kissed, but it felt all too soon when he pulled away. Our breaths were ragged as he dropped his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. His full lips were swollen from the kiss, and I was already mourning the loss of contact.

A small whimper slipped free as I realized that was all I would get from him, making the corner of his lips hitch. “Sorry Firecracker, but even if you begged, now isn’t the time.” His voice was low and lush and had me squirming against him.

It took a moment for his words to register in my lust-addled brain, but once they did, my indignation rose and overshadowed the desire coursing through my veins—just barely. I released my hold on his hair and pulled back. “You’re vastly overestimating your skills if you think I’ll ever beg for you.”

Parker’s smirk grew as he bent his head toward mine and whispered in my ear. “You will.”